Black Point Sells

Black Point Sells

The whole lake is special, we all know that. Every nook and cranny, whether our particular nook or our own favorite cranny, is unique and valuable. Some North Shore dwellers couldn’t fathom the horrors of living on the South Shore, and those South Shore owners would rather be dead than find their pier numbering 1-411. But there are universal bright spots, rare locations where the stretch is just right. The trees greener. The water bluer. One cascading landscape falling into the next, on and on, until the unique nature of it all turns to a different flavor, a different style, favored by someone else but not by everyone. These particular sections of the lake are sometimes obvious. Basswood. Snake. Creek. The lanes that offer up our best.

But the other areas, those are more nuanced. I once had a client who could have owned anything he wanted on this lake, and it was a difficult push to get him to move from his lakefront house in Glenwood Springs. He loved that house. That area. Those streets. The way the lawn runs uninterrupted for 1800 feet, give or take. He learned to love what he knew, and when the chance to move on presented itself, bold and immediate, he paused. Because Glenwood Springs was where he felt most at home.

This week, I closed on a hilltop house on Black Point. Black Point is just to the East of Majestic Ski Hill. It’s dark and it’s intimidating and it’s high. The Black Point Mansion once anchored the entire point, but is now relegated to the land on the West side of the point, and everything else has been developed into large lakefront and lake access parcels. The homes there are varied, but mostly vastly improved and manicured. Two years ago, a 1980s cedar house came to market for $1.395MM. It was a nice enough house positioned in a most incredible way on the top of the bluff that runs from deep under the water and up to this very tippity top. The house is surrounded by towering pines, the sort that create a most audible white noise whenever the wind rustles. Under the summer sun, the sweet aroma of pine sap is unavoidable and welcomed.

The problem here was that the house just wasn’t nice enough to command that price. It was a nice house, sure, and the location was incredibly desirable, but the house lacked the sizzle that the market responds to. There’s a house in Lake Geneva that just came to market around $1.3MM, and that house looks as though it’ll sell quickly. The location is okay, not super unique, but quality. The house, however, has the interior sizzle that buyers clumsily rush towards. Fancy finished in this market always attract buyers, whether that’s a lakefront home, an off water home, or a primary home without any lake access at all.

And so the house on Black Point sat. It caught the attention of a dear client of mine, but our lower priced interest was rebuffed by the seller. We watched it some more, enamored with those pine trees and that deep water slip. It should be noted that “deep water” is a way we describe slips, often. But in the context of Black Point the deep water is different. It’s really deep. Like immediately deep. Dropped your sunglasses off the end of the pier? A fish with large teeth, irridescent skin and a light dangling off its head in front of its eyes just ate your RayBans. The house, no matter that location and that slip and those two acres of pine trees, didn’t sell.

Over time, the price was adjusted. Lower a bit here and lower a bit there. This spring, after the property was growing a bit weary, we bid again. That deal was negotiated to an end, and the cedar house on the top of Black Point sold this week for $950k. My client is pleased and excited, as am I. This is a special location, a prized location. There are others on the lake, some more special and more unique than the others, but this location, man. This location. Congratulations to the new owners.

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About the Author

I'm David Curry. I write this blog to educate and entertain those who subscribe to the theory that Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is indeed the center of the real estate universe. When I started selling real estate 21 years ago I did so of a desire to some day dominate the activity in the Lake Geneva vacation home market. With over $225,000,000 in sales since January of 2010, that goal is within reach. If I can help you with your Lake Geneva real estate needs, please consider me at your service. Thanks for reading.

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Geneva Lakefront Realty is a Williams Bay, Wisconsin based full service real estate brokerage. Information on this site is deemed reliable but is in no way guaranteed. Geneva Lakefront Realty is a Fair Housing Broker and a Limited Liability Corporation in the state of Wisconsin serving the Lake Geneva real estate market.
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